Classification 

Sailing at the Paralympic Games is one of the only sports in which athletes of many different disabilities compete against each other on equal terms.  All athletes who compete at the Paralympics and IFDS (International Foundation for Disabled Sailing) World Championship events must have an IFDS Classification which measures their abilities.

The purpose of the IFDS Classification system is to measure the sailor's ability in order to:

• enable fair and equitable competition at all levels for mildly, moderately and severely disabled sailors;
• in some formats, encourage crews of mixed disability from mild to severe, to compete together and completment each other;
• only measure functional limitations caused by physical disability;
• not be affected by the sailing skills, training or talent of the participant.

Do you classify?  Find out by reading the Quick Guide to Classification.  For further information visit the IFDS website.